Press for securing wax comb foundations in honey frames



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June 30, 1953 l. D. JOHNSTON 2,643,400

PRESS FOR SECURIN G WAX COMB FOUNDATIONS IN HONEY FRAMES Filed Oct. 2,1950 2 She ets-Sheet 1 In ventor lr van 0. Johnston June 30, 1953JOHNSTON 2,643,400

PRESS F OR SECURING WAX COMB FOUNDATIONS IN HONEY FRAMES Filed Oct. 2,1950 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllymih.

In ventor lrven D. Johnston Patented June 30, 1953 UNITE-D1 S AT- sPATENT OFFICE PRESSFOR 'S E('J'U'RING WAX COMB FOUNDA- TION-S IN HONEYFRAMES I IrvenDQLJohnston, Du Bois, Pa.

"npp'licationoctuberz, 1950, Serial N0."=187,959

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in pressesfor securing wax comb foundations in honey frames for use in bee hivesand more particularly to a treadle operated press mounted on a workbench. i

An'important object of the invention is taprovide a press capableofholdinga group of honey frames in a position for receiving a'sheet ofwax comb'foundation for simultaneously secu "ng'the foundationin all ofthe frames. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a press of this characterdesigned to facilitate the ease and speed of assembling the waxfoundation in the honey frames.

A further object is to provide a device of this character of simple andpractical construction, which is efficient and reliable in operation,relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for thepurpose for which the same is intended. 7

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view;

Figure 2 is a top plan view;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on a line 4--4 of Figure 2showing the front frame closed and;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 and showing the front frame open.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, Wherein for the purpose ofillustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention,the numerals 5 and 6 designate a pair of spaced apart parallel baserails suitably fixed to a work bench or other supporting structure 1.The rails are formed with substantially V-shaped notches 8 to receive apress frame 9 which includes an upwardly inclined base [0, a rearwardlyinclined back H and end walls 12. The press frame 9 is nailed orotherwise suitably secured to the base rails 5 and 6.

A front rail I3 is secured on top of base I at its front edge to form arecess 14 to receive a group of honey frames I5, each of which includefront and rear frame sections l6 and 11 fixed at their lower side edgesto a common bottom frame member l8 by a conventional mortise and tenonjoint (not shown), the frames I lying in an inclined position againstback ll of the press.

The top of rear frame section I1 is held against back H by alocking .barI9 connected tothe top :of 'back lliby hinges 20 for vertical swingingmovement-from a locking position in front of back III and overlying thetop of honey frame section I! toian unlocking position .on top of backll. Pins 2| project downwardly from bar I9 to bite into 'the .top ofhone frame section I! to hold the latter firmly in press frame .9. Ahandie 22 rises from locking bar 19.

A coil spring '23 ispositioned vertically at each end of lockingubar 19with the lower ends of the'springs attached to itheends of back H andthe upper ends of .the springs attached to the ends of locking bar 19 tohold the locking bar in either its locked or unlocked position.

A swingable inverted U-shaped frame 24 comprises a pair of legs 25positioned vertically at the ends of the press frame 9 with the lowerends 25a of said legs pivoted by pins or the like 25b to the lower rearportion of the press frame for forward and rearward swinging movement ofthe legs and a horizontal bar 26 is rockably connected at its ends tothe upper ends of legs 25 by means of U-shaped clips 40 secured to theend portions 26a of the bar 26 and pivoted to the central or bightportions of the clips on bolts and nuts 4| passing transversely throughthe upper end portions 25c of the legs 25, as well as throughreinforcing U-shaped clips 42 at the upper ends of said legs. Coilsprings 21 connect the legs 25 to base rails 5 and 6 to hold the legsand bar 26 rearwardly.

A substantially U-shaped lever 28 is pivoted at its central portion tothe front edge of base I0 and with one end 29 of the lever attached tothe central portion of a U-shaped link 30 which has its ends pivoted tobar 26. A foot treadle 3! is attached to the other end 32 of lever 28 bya rod 33.

A plurality of hooks 34 are fixed at one end on top of bar 26 and areformed with prongs 35 at their free ends adapted to bite into the topsof the group of front honey frame sections l6 to connect the latter tothe bar 26 for front and rear movement therewith. Hooks 34 are held in areleased position, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, by a wire hookor catch 36 connected to bar 26 and by means of which the bar may berocked to raise the hooks 34 and held in raised position by connectingthe free end of hook or catch 36 to the central portion of link 30.

In the operation of the device, the group of honey frames I 5 are placedside by side in recess swingable frame 24 and front sections I6 rear-'wardly to clamp the foundation between the sections, and after thesections of the honey frames have been secured to each other the hooks34 are released from the front sections swingable frame 24 again pulledforwardly by treadle 3i, whereupon the honey frames IS, with thefoundation 31 secured therein, may be individually removed from pressframe 9.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accord-e ingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

[8 and In a wax foundation press for honey frames, a stationary pressframe adapted for holding a group of sectional separable honey frames inupright position, and means for separating one section of each of thehoney frames from its companion section and comprising an inverted U-shaped frame including a pair of legs pivoted at their lower ends to thepress frame and swingable'vertically toward and away from the honeyframes and said U-shaped frame further including a rockable barconnecting the upper ends of the legs to each other and extendingtransversely in front of the honey frames, a plurality ofhooks rigidlyconnected to the rockable bar andhaving free end portions swingable bythe bar'into and out of engagement with the adjacent sections of thehoney frames, catch means connected to the bar and holding the bar in apredetermined rocked position with the hooks raised out of engagedposition with the honey frame and treadle actuating means for the U-shaped frame.

IRVEN D. JOHNSTON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 585,477 McCartney June 29, 1897 999,544 Boyum Aug. 1, 19111,429,827 Baile Sept. 19, 1922

